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Merry Month of May Music Meme

What with the A to Z challenge and Anzac Day posts, April was rather a serious month of blogging. A week or so ago, after a series of blog comments my genimate[i] Catherine and I reckoned we needed a bit of frivolity. Catherine posted the humorous Purple People Eater on her blog for light relief. This morning it occurred to me that what we need is a (hopefully) fun meme so here it is….drum roll.

The Merry Month of May Music Meme: a meme for your amusement.

Since the whole point of this is to have fun, retrieve memories and generally chill out (very 60s!), feel free to amend/add/subtract. I’m not even going to ask you to do the usual checklist of have done, want to do, don’t want to do. If you feel the urge, go ahead, you know how it works. And, geneabloggers, yes there is still family history value in this: give your descendants a laugh, let them get to know you with your hair down. Don’t forget, anyone can join in – it will make it much more fun.

I’ll be posting my responses later today and I’m even going to try to be spontaneous – first song/music that comes into my head. If you decide to join in please let me know via the links below (it’s supposed to be fun, so I’m not going to learn about linky-doo-dahs).

Song(s)/Music from your childhood:

Song(s)/ Musos from your teenage years:

First live concert you attended:

Songs your parents sang along to:

Song(s)/Music your grandparents sang/played:

Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or a neighbours:

Did you have a musical instrument at home:

What instruments do you play (if any):

What instruments do you wish you could play:

Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra:

Do you/did you sing in a choir:

Music you fell in love to/with or were married to:

Romantic music memories:

Favourite music genre(s):

Favourite classical music:

Favourite opera/light opera:

Favourite musical:

Favourite pop:

Favourite world/ethnic:

Favourite jazz:

Favourite country or folk:

Favourite movie/show musical:

Favourite sounds tracks:

What music do you like to dance to:

What dances did you do as a teenager:

Do you use music for caller ID on your mobile:

What songs do you use for caller ID:

What songs do your children like or listen to:

Favourite live music concerts as an adult:

Silly music memories from your family:

Silliest song you can think of:

Pet hate in music/singing:

A song that captures family history for you:

If you could only play 5 albums (assume no iPods or mp3) for the rest of your life, what would they be:

Favourite artists (go ahead and list as many as you like):

Let’s go Merry Month of May-ing

I hope you have fun dredging up some memories and get into the spirit of a Merry Month of May.

Thanks Catherine-had a great time reflecting on your songs and memories. I looked up the Songs of the Protest Era -last week’s China Beach had “We gotta get out of this place” which would make a good addition to that album.

Thanks Shelley. Wasn’t sure if you’d got lost in YouTube ;-) I enjoyed your response as you’ll see from my comment. My guess is we’d have gone to the ABBA concert too if we’d be in Australia at the time. It would have been a ton of fun, but I’m not sure that I’d have wanted an ABBA lunch box. (Dora the Explorer for the 70s?)

Song(s)/Music from your childhood:
Irish and Scottish Folk with mouth organ. Some ballroom dance music on windup gramophone. We had no radio or instruments in the bush.
Song(s)/ Musos from your teenage years:
Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Peter Paul & Mary, & then rock & roll.
First live concert you attended:
Local folk concert in a nearby hay shed before the Last Night of the Proms in London in 1966.
Songs your parents sang along to:
None I can remember. Dad used to sing lullabies to us which I think were in Bundjalung & Irish. I don’t think he knew but was singing what had been sung to him.My mother used to whistle when working outside.
Song(s)/Music your grandparents sang/played:
Did not see much of them as they were distant, but maternal grandfather, a drover, always listened to Frank Ifield on the radio when he was retired.
Did your family have sing-a-longs at home or a neighbours:
Rarely. People worked long hours of physical labour in the timber industry. When we did it was usually country & western.
Did you have a musical instrument at home:
A piano & violins, recorders and tin whistle & some African drums. Not all of us play. A couple of daughters play violin, another used to play piano, another a flute. A grand daughter in Hong Kong is an excellent drummer.
What instruments do you play (if any): Recorder.
What instruments do you wish you could play: Bagpipes.
Do you/did you play in a band or orchestra: No
Do you/did you sing in a choir: Yes, at school, and enjoyed it.
Music you fell in love to/with or were married to: Nothing in particular.
Romantic music memories:
Wide range as per following question.
Favourite music genre(s):
Folk, classical, opera, country/rock/western with folk history themes
Favourite classical music: Beethoven, Brahms, Holst, Baroque period,
Favourite opera/light opera: Aida, La Traviata, Il Trovatore, Carmen,
Favourite musical: Not really into musical although performed in ‘No. No, Nanette’ when teaching in a country school when everyone in town took part! Was choreographer for ‘White Horse Inn’ in the same town.
Favourite pop: Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, Redgum, the Seekers, & seems to be more folk than pop
Favourite world/ethnic: Irish, Scottish, Garamul Yunupingu,
Favourite jazz: Dave Brubeck, Judith Durham.
Favourite country or folk: See above, Graham Connors, Mary Black, Clancy Brothers, Clannad, The Chieftains,
Favourite movie/show musical: Riverdance in Brisbane, film Shawshank Redemption.
Favourite sounds tracks:
Gregorian Chant for meditation, The Mission sound track (Moriconi), Phil Coulter relaxing, Old irish or Scottish lilts and Port a Bheul (mouth music) which my father used to sing to us as well as koori chants unaccompanied. My grandfather was bilingual and spoke Bundjalung.
What music do you like to dance to: Scottish/Irish country, ballroom including old time and then Twist, Madison, jive, but husband does not really jive.
What dances did you do as a teenager:
As previous question.
Do you use music for caller ID on your mobile: Yes.
What songs do you use for caller ID: It’s called Enthrall but it’s because I have a hearing defect so it has to be one I can usually hear rather than one I like.
What songs do your children like or listen to: The full range from rebel, rock, folk, classical. You name it they listen.
Favourite live music concerts as an adult:
Don’t go to any now, but when teaching in London used to drop in to Sadlers Wells to the five bob seats in ‘the Gods’ at the opera on my way home from work.
Silly music memories from your family: None
Silliest song you can think of: None
Pet hate in music/singing: Screeching sopranos.
A song that captures family history for you: Irish & Scottish folk especially any about exile.
If you could only play 5 albums (assume no iPods or mp3) for the rest of your life, what would they be:
Beethoven 5th, Brahms Violin Concerto, Canto Gregoriano, Phil Coulter, Mary Black.
Favourite artists (go ahead and list as many as you like): Clancy Brothers, Neil Diamond, Mary Black, Simon & Garfunkel, Seekers, Graham Connors, Pavarotti, Careras, Domingo, Kiri te Kanawa, Clannad, Enya, Dusty Springfield, Anne Murray, Judy Small.

Thanks for joining in Anne. I really enjoyed reading your stories…and yes, lots we share. I liked that you brought a different perspective to the responses because of the bush context. Intrigued by the Bundjalung language skills -you’ll have to tell me more about it in an email. How fantastic to be able to drop in to listen to Opera. There seems to be a fair bit of muscical talent in your family. Check out Twigs of Yore’s story about learning bagpipes. I’m with you on screeching sopranos;-)

Oops. I realise I put my response in the wrong place. Your disc will be in the mail today. An acquaintance is learning the pipes now but I do not have the time so have to content myself with listening. One of the most awesome experiences was turning up unexpectedly at Kilfinan in Scotland in 1966 on the day of the BIG celebration for Bonny Prince Charlie and hearing hundreds of pipes in the open.
Will contact you via email re Mull and Lismore.

Wow, hundreds of pipes at once is always special. One of the things I shared with my mother-in-law was the ability to hear the pipes from a distance and follow the sound like an aural bloodhound. My grandmother’s brothers were all champion pipers, winning lots of prizes then later judges. It gave me a great love of Scottish music -to my Irish-descended mother’s disgust. Thanks for the disc…look forward to it. Ah, Mull and Lismore :-)

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